The National Guard has been associated with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Chevrolet since the 11-time most popular driver joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. / Peter Casey, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

In a sport so predicated on an abundance of corporate sponsorship funding its teams, the measurement of healthy fan appeal and audience stability is essential to its well-being.

The numbers most widely disseminated and dissected this week regarding the reach of big-league stock-car racing weren't good.

On the heels of a feel-good victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by superstar Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won Sunday at Pocono Raceway. His third victory of the season drew a 2.8 rating that declined more than 12% from last year's race.

Though the race started slightly earlier, and Earnhardt didn't take the lead until 14 laps remaining (lessening the chances of an audience building with his car in first), there was no definitive way to explain why there were 750,000 fewer average viewers watching than Kasey Kahne's victory in the same race last year.

Three days after Earnhardt's victory, the National Guard announced it would be ending its 20-race annual sponsorship of the No. 88 Chevrolet. After spending $32 million on NASCAR this year, the guard decided it wasn't getting enough of a return.

When the 11-time most popular driver is the central figure of two major storylines that underscore lagging interest in NASCAR, it should be disconcerting for an industry that has battled viewership and sponsorship erosion for nearly a decade.

But there were other positive numbers regarding Earnhardt's win that weren't so readily apparent beyond the walls of NASCAR's headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., and Daytona Beach, Fla.

The social conversation (all of the Twitter and Facebook posts related to NASCAR) spiked 78% during the race (according to data supplied by NASCAR's Fan and Media Engagement Center).

Traffic to NASCAR.com grew by 24% in unique visits, 41% in page views and 36% in videos. Though NASCAR still trails other major sports in social media (Danica Patrick is the only driver topping 1 million followers, and the NASCAR Twitter account has 1.5 million followers vs. 10.9 million for the NBA), it clearly has traction (Earnhardt and Tony Stewart became the last star holdouts to join Twitter this year). And its fan council has given more positive reviews to the on-track action.

The problem is two of the chief indicators for measuring NASCAR's health have remained two of the most troubling.

NASCAR chief marketing officer Steve Phelps has said TV ratings and attendance are most valued by sponsors evaluating their return.

Across an increasingly fragmented TV landscape, declining ratings are a reality for many sports leagues. Through 21 races, the Sprint Cup Series still is averaging 5.8 million viewers, but there is little hope of returning to the apex of the 2005 season when Fox averaged nearly 10 million viewers for its half of the season. When a new 10-year TV deal begins in 2015, Fox and NBC will have streaming rights that will make races more available via mobile devices and perhaps lead to further declines in the traditional ratings provided by Nielsen.

Meanwhile, racetracks' struggles to attract crowds have continued. More than a dozen have responded by shrinking their seating capacities to accommodate the lesser demand.

That has helped ameliorate the negative perception cast by swaths of empty seats, and it might reveal a path to handling NASCAR's ratings dilemma.

Is there a way to create a metric that could supersede TV ratings? A category that could measure the actual total audience (including those following exclusively via social media) while highlighting the level of engagement for fans who can't live without the "second screen" experience of having a laptop open?

Cynics will characterize that as spin, but it's a legitimate point in a society overrun by its obsession with smartphones and tablets.

NASCAR needs to shift the conversation away from the viewers who have fled its TV broadcasts and refocus on the growing segment who are consuming the races through digital and social channels.